Sacha Baron Cohen Is The Dictator

No stranger to controversial roles, Sacha Baron Cohen’s next movie will be The Dictator based on the book Zabiba And The King by um…Saddam Hussein. Long time collaborator Larry Charles (Borat, Bruno) will direct and among the many list of producers will be Scott Rudin (The Social Network and the forthcoming True Grit).

It’s described as “the heroic story of a dictator who risked his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed”

Set in Hussein’s home town of Tikrit in the 7th or 8th century, it tells the story of Zabiba, a beautiful commoner girl who marries the king of Iraq, a cruel and oppressive man who rapes her. The book’s hero is Hussein who comes to her rescue.

It’s pretty clear that the book’s intended to be read allegorically with the King representing the United States, Zabiba the Iraqi people and Hussein Saddam himself. It was a huge hit in Iraq when it came out and although most experts believe that it was written by a team of ghostwriters working directly under Saddam’s influence.

It’ll be released in May 2012, so there’s plenty of time for speculation on co-stars and plot. More details when we get them.